Bernd Korz has announced that the Zeta development team and Magnussoft are parting ways [German]. The team and Bernd will continue to develop Zeta, and the service pack (Zeta v1.51) will still be released in the coming weeks.

Why is it they're taking so much stuff from Haiku? If they legally possess the sources, why do they even NEED to? What is Haiku doing that is better than Bernd and Co.? Except that it's FREE labor for Bernd and Co. Free labor + selling Zeta for X amount = near 100% profit.

And, why don't they just take the working (and freely available) source code of Haiku and work on that, instead, and this entire "legality" argument can be buried, once and for all?

Except that... if *they* work on it, they'll have to PAY someone to work on it. And Bernd and Co. seem a bit allergic to that idea. Probably because they simply don't have (and can't get, by whatever means) enough money to do so.

Zeta's lifespan reeks of "Amiga" all over again. Zeta is handed over to new people, only be be handed over to new people, only to be handed over to new people... ad infinitum ad nauseum.

The sum total of Zeta's existance in the "legacy of BeOS" will be but a footnote in our memory of an OS that was a misbegotten stepchild to the REAL BeOS. Forever promoted and forever mismanaged into utter obscurity.

The sooner Zeta is put down, the less suffering we will ALL have to endure. Haiku is the only one truly qualified to carry the torch of BeOS. In heart and soul, it remains truest to the history and legacy of BeOS.

Zeta is utterly irrelevant to Haiku. Unless, rumor is true about Bernd actually OWNING the Source Code to BeOS (as someone implied in an earlier post), I don't think what happens to Zeta will have ANY impact on Haiku.

Anyone who has their head on straight can tell the difference between them. Zeta is Bernd & Co.s efforts to push a dead horse (BeOS) further down the track and make it get up and do a jig. They don't even have a clear focus on what they want Zeta to actually DO for people. Latest thing is... play ports of commercial games? Come on! Really!

Haiku is the *proper* revival of what made BeOS great and improving upon that, here and there (USB 2.0, SATA(n) drive support, etc.). There is no "lack" of focus, because the ONLY focus, right now, is to get Haiku up and running in R1, period. After that, THEN we'll see where others take it.

Now, where things could get "problematic", is if Bernd DOES own the BeOS Source Code outright and decides that Haiku is "infringing" on Zeta's territory and demands they cease and desist, so that Zeta can take center stage. In today's legalistic clime, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this happened somewhere down the road. Bernd/yT threatened to sue one developer awhile back and Bernd has suddenly dismissed all association with Magnussoft. Why?

Why is EVERYTHING with Zeta and Bernd & Co. so secretive? Why don't we have a clear-cut showing of WHO owns what and who has the RIGHTS to what and who is DOING what? Is Bernd & Co. held to an NDA themselves? And, if so, that PROVES they don't own the rights to the source code! The *licensor* sets the NDA, not the licensee!

Try not to get too nauseated by watching the whirling dirvish, known as Zeta, run and controlled by Bernd & Co. and [whoever else]. Just keep your eyes focused on the steady stream of progress by those over at Haiku, Inc and their team of masterful BeOS-inspired code artisans, who slowly weave the beautiful tapestry known as... Haiku OS!

1) Because it costs nothing to use someone elses code
2) Because the changes they make to BeOS code they have are required to be returned to the owner of the code - using Haiku code they get around this.
3) Re-inventing the wheel for the sake of re-inventing the wheel is pointless.

The more open components they have, the easier it'll be for them to continue after their licese for the sourcecode expires in 2009 (or there abouts.)